The first thing I saw when I walked into Deborah’s house (after Kate in her spiffy apron) was mugs on the counter…Deborah had made us the most wonderful mugs! Here are the four…Kate’s on the left, then Deborah’s, Kathy’s, and mine. They say: Merry Christmas, Sarah! Artists and Friend. Deborah’s is a tiny bit difference and reads Peace, dream, joy. I LOVE our matching mugs and fillers (mine had tea since Deborah knows I’m not a coffee drinker, unless it’s a latte!).
Next to the mugs were the most AMAZING little gingerbread houses. Not only did Kathy make an incredibly decadent and perfect chocolate cake for dessert, but she made each of us these treats to take home to our various kidlets (Kathy’s are grown, but the rest of us have curtain-climbers of various sizes, ages 3-12)….including those like me who prefer to remain in perpetual childhood of sorts.

And we shared Christmas gifts and friendship. Kate gave each of us a poster and a perpetual calendar featuring artwork from her Kitchen Table Cards line…they are so cool both Kathy and I bought a few of the calendars for giving this season as well! The poster is there under wall art (click on store, then wall art), but the perpetual calendar is new. It’s a perfect size: about 5 x 14 inches… a picture at the top using the images that are also on the cards and posters, then 28-31 lines (as appropriate to the month) to jot down birthdates, anniversaries and whatnot that come on the same day every year. Maybe this time I can get organized and actually LOOK at the calendar in advance and remember to send the card, as well as purchase it, before the date is history!

Kathy, in addition to the gingerbread houses, gave us treat bags with a fabric postcard, gift tags (cleverly made on business card stock for the computer printer—smart Kathy!) and cookies…yummmm!

I made everyone bags from the Shiva’d fabric, and of course not only forgot to take pictures of them before wrapping them at home, but again at Deborah’s. Tomorrow I’ll take a picture of mine so you can get the idea! And gave them some of my simple but pretty glass ornaments—start with clear glass, swirl Delta Ceramcoat (because it is the right amount of “runny” –thinner than other acrylic craft paints) paint inside, rotate every so often, let dry..they are simple and beautiful, and I think they liked them. If you do this with kids, just make sure the two or three colors of paint they pick don’t mix to make a mud color, and you’ll have something beautiful!

Then, of course, we had to eat! Deborah made a cheese-topped bread, Kate brought a yummy salad with a Balsamic vinegar dressing (did I say yummy often enough yet?), I made a potato and turkey kielbasa soup (thank you Janet W. …the recipe has now moved across the continent to Maine and is spreading!), and Kathy made that splendiferous cake. Went to Curves on the way home LOL!
Here’s a beautiful setting at Deborah’s table:

And Deborah lighting the advent candles on the table before we sat down:

Lisa (the manager) at Curves told me about something wonderful, that I have begun to try to do here at home. Every night at dinner, her family says the best thing (or at least something really good) that happened to them that day. I love that it makes folks think about the good things that happened instead of recounting just the travails and woes of the day, and in a subtle way count their blessings. Her husband works hard as a lobsterman (Mainers will know what that means, and for those who haven’t had the fortune to live in or get to know this state, it’s a lot of long hard days of long hard work). Lisa told me she often learns something new about her husband’s day that she might never have known, and I love that. So I hope we can turn it into as much a routine here as she and her family have done.

For me, today, the Frayed Edges happened….I’ll blog about it more tomorrow or the next day, but I am blessed to have met such wonderful women who have become my friends. It was a bounty of friendship and sharing and Christmas sharing, so I think I’ll take one of my little, kinda cheezy cloth Christmas Trees up to my workroom and make a Frayed Edges Christmas zone so I can enjoy the day all over again!

Wow..what fun! I taught a “combined” applique class in Bangor on Saturday, Dec. 10th. We didn’t have enough for either the Intro applique (using the Blue Gingko pattern) or the Balinese Garden, but if we combined both (Manager Debbie’s brilliant idea–she’s up near the front of the shop in the first photo) we could have a class “go.” So we did, and it worked! I wouldn’t want to do that with more than six or so students, but we had a ball. Here’s a picture looking from the back of the store (Cote Brothers on Stillwater in Bangor, Maine) toward the front.

It was SO much fun to see Emma and Kathy again, and meet new students Sheila, Susan, Heather and Pauline. It was a total gas to see folks interpret my pattern in wasy I would never have imagined, so I decided to share:

Here is Susan’s gingko leaf—Susan wanted to learn how to machine applique, and I think she’s well on her way. We did fused and satin-stitched, hand-look by machine (i.e. freezer paper underneath) and Jane Sassaman’s method of stiff interfacing underneat (looks like hand-look, but with crisp distinct edges…Jane’s book the Quilted Garden seems to be my guidebook!)

Emma and her friend Heather came together…Emma is new to quilting, but has been garment making for years. She’s a natural at machine quilting, and she’s proving to be just as good at applique. She auditioned two background fabrics…one looks like a stone walls, another like a weathered wood fence. She opted for the stone wall, and we tweaked the pattern to use the entire fat quarter and have her flowers climbing the stone garden wall…way fun!

Heather used a square of wonderful pale blue and lilac and had a garden of riotous color….

I had never even thought of using wools, but Pauline used hand-dyed wools for this piece, which I can’t WAIT to see finished! It’s going to be wonderful. Fusing the wool was challenging, but all the pieces end up stiched, so it will be OK.

Somehow Kathy and Sheila, who were both using flannels, managed to escape before I snapped pictures, so I hope to catch up with them next year and see the finished (or at least in-progress) top!

Had a bit of fun on Sunday…. I need to make some Christmas gifts, so decided to make them. I took some of my hand-dyed fabric:

And then played with some rubbing thingamadobobs that I bought at Festival in Houston a year ago…what are they called? Made of plastic, used by elementary school kids to make crayon rubbings? Anyway, I have a package of “animal skins” and one of “leaves.” If you use the back side of the animal skin, this was some sort of reptile skin, you get a bark-look, so I used that on the teal with ultramarine Shiva paintstik.

I wanted to pull the two colors together, so I also used an iridescent blue on the purple fabric. The leaves are done with those doo-hickies, and used a bit of rug gripper (the rubberized stuff you put under carpets to prevent them from slipping all over) for the grid. Now I just have to MAKE something out of these. Plan A, a “swirl” bag, isn’t going to work. Made one out of different fabric for my mom, and the pieces are too short. Drat. Working on plan B–will let you know what happens.

And now for something totally ridiculous:

Although the hat is kid-sized, as soon as I saw it last December, I knew I had to have it. It was Dec. 22 or 23rd. I asked the store to put it on hold, drove home, and told my husband he *had* to get me this hat for Christmas! He did ….smart hubby!

I’ve threatened the kids that I will wear it out in public. But I also bought some black polartec so that I can open up a couple of seams….it’s pretty tight. It is made of black stretch velvet, lined, and has these cool horn things in a fabric that I’ve never seen in a store. If ANYone has an idea where we can buy this stuff, let me know!!!! It’s sorta crunchy sounding when you squish it-sounds almost like tissue paper. I could have fun using that “fabric” in my quilts……reflections on water, sparkly bits……..

Teehee! Running and ducking for cover!